Summary: In Facades, we establish that Percy and Leo had a close relationship when they were younger. But what exactly does their shared past involve?/Rated T for mentions of abuse, rape, self-harm, suicide

Characters: Leonidas "Leo" Valdez, Perseus "Percy" Jackson, Gabriel "Gabe" Ugliano, Piper McLean, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll, Clarisse La Rue, Sally Jackson,

Mentioned Characters: Miss Teresa, Grover Underwood

Warnings: Angst, slight OoC?, Mentions of Child Abuse, Mentions of Rape, Mentions of Self-Harm, Mentions and Evidence of Suicide Attempt

Burning and Drowning|01

When Leo opened his eyes, he was met with the glaringly white walls of the hospital.

Leo blinked. Wait what? Hospital? How did he get there? Maybe Miss Teresa brought him to the hospital? Or maybe…

He tried think about what he last remembered. What was it? Miss Teresa had gotten her belt out (Leo shivered at that) and in the midst of whipping him. Then.. flashing blue lights and wailing of sirens and… He vaguely remembered the door being slammed open through a haze of pain. Then… He probably passed out since the next thing he remembered was darkness and the feeling of weightlessness. Then he woke up here.

…Wherever here was.

He supposed it was good, in a way. Then maybe everyone knew of his encounters with Miss Teresa, then he would be able to not ever see her again? Maybe he could get a new family….

The thought just saddened him. A family. It wasn't right though, moving on from his own mother's death so soon. Especially since he had killed her with his fire powers and pyrokinetic tendencies.

All. His. Fault.

(He vaguely noted the doctors mentioning something along the lines of therapy and rehabilitation centers. He wasn't sure.)

Burning and Drowning|02

When Perseus opened his eyes, he was met with the glaringly white walls of the hospital.

Perseus blinked at brightness. Then he glared at the walls. Why was he in the hospital? He was ready to leave the world of the living and he was sure he did everything right. Why. Was. He. Still. Alive?

He remembered slicing up his wrists, he remembered overdosing on painkillers and he definitely remembered slicing up his vein. Why was he still alive? If anything, the number that he had done on himself would probably have resulted in him dead…

Everything had throbbed, and for once, Perseus was happy. Why? He wasn't completely sure, but he thought he felt the pain, the first bit of emotion in god knows how long.

Huh, maybe his mom did something, he noted vaguely at the back of his head.

He gained some clarity, and watched impassively as the doctors rushed in and out of the room, doing god knows what. Gabe was right, he was a freak, just simply a freak. How else to explain it? How else to explain the water bending to his will, the fishes-and pretty much any sea creature-talking to him, how he could breathe underwater for so long without surfacing (the water felt like air at times).

Just a freak.

(He noted that he was going to be sent to a rehabilitation center but drowsiness took over soon after.)

Burning and Drowning|03

Leo watched as he was brought to another building. …another foster home? Honestly, it looked like one, complete with warm homey feeling and all.

He noted vaguely that another boy who looked roughly his age was also being brought in. The boy had messy raven hair that covered his eyes. His eyes… were a mysterious colour that Leo didn't catch at all.

Some processes were undergone (Leo spaced out during most of them) and finally, he was introduced to his new room, where he was going to stay temporarily to get over the abuse.

Simply put it, he didn't like it.

The room was really basic and had two beds, meaning that Leo would most likely get a roommate. Leo didn't want a roommate, and knowing his luck, he'd probably get stuck with some guy who had an urge to know everything and anything. He really didn't want that.

Of course, any plan that he ever had was utterly and completely dashed before it could even start.

He gave the rehabilitation center a month before he left it behind burning or something.

Then, his plans were turned upside down as his new roommate walked in.

Oh, just the same boy from before, no big deal at all….

Burning and Drowning|04

Perseus walked into the room and claimed one of the two beds by sitting on it. His new roommate was a boy with curly black hair, dark brown eyes, and all in all looked like a little elf. His eyes held pain and fear and a strange instinct to flee in it. Perseus felt a strange pang in his heart looking at the elf. No eyes should hold that much pain in them, especially not that young.

He would very much rather that he didn't communicate at all with his new roommate, and it seemed his roommate wanted the same thing, but his mother taught him better than that. Manners first.

"Hey," Perseus and Leo started at the same time. "Hey."

Leo chocked out a few small bouts of laughter and Perseus just smiled, then he caught himself. Was he… smiling? He hadn't smiled in… five months or so. Maybe… Just maybe… the Latino would be able to teach him to save himself.

"So, I'm Leo Valdez, short for Leonidas, and eight this year. What's your name?" The boy-Leo, Perseus internally corrected himself-smiled, plopping himself down on the other bed.

"Hi Leonidas, I'm Perseus Jackson," Perseus responded. "Nine."

"Leo, not Leonidas. And… I'd think Percy is easier to say than Perseus. Percy it is!" Leo declared, ignoring the other boy's shouts of mock outrage.

Internally, Perseus-no, Percy-decided he liked the name Percy better.

Maybe he could change for the boy?

Burning and Drowning|05

They shook hands. And they hugged, a little awkwardly. And Percy-Perseus made him laugh. He hadn't laughed in so so long he almost forgot how it felt like to do so.

Percy lifted up his head and swept his bangs to a side, allowing Leo to actually see the boy's eyes for once. First of all, Leo admitted Percy's eyes were breathtakingly beautiful. Next, it was awesome how his eyes seemed to be rushing with the current, little waves in them. It was just so cool. Last of all, the sea green eyes staring at him held so much pain and suffering, he almost flinched away from them. But he didn't.

Although the sea green eyes held so much pain and suffering, they still held this care and concern-for him, Leo realised-and it seemed to never be able to be erased.

Then Percy asked the dreaded question. "What are you here for?"

Leo froze.

Percy realised what happened. "Wait, I'm sorry, if you don't want to, you can choose not to say. I'm sorry for intruding on your privacy."

Leo shook his head. Percy seemed like a cool guy, and Leo supposed he could at least tell his secret to someone. For some reason, he just had some strange instinct that the boy with ocean eyes was trustworthy and more.

"My… mother died and… well… I was put in foster care… with this lady… Miss Teresa… and… Uh… I… I'll just show you…" Leo hesitated, fingering the hem of his shirt, then decided 'Why the hell not?' and took it off.

Burning and Drowning|06

Percy caught his breath in his throat as he took in the younger boy's torso was littered with scars and redness, but there was one particularly deep and fresh-looking wound. Percy supposed that was what Leo was for.

Percy shifted such that he was seated next to the Latino. He fingered the boy's scars gently, shocked by how bad the boy's torso looked. (And that was coming from him, Perseus Jackson.) Leo flinched away slightly, and Percy hesitated, but in the end, the younger boy relaxed onto Percy. Then they hugged again.

"Does it hurt?" Percy offered, stroking the rawer scars.

Leo nodded an affirmative. "What are you here for?"

"Life," Percy sighed, scoffing at his own joke then observing the lacerations on his arms and offering them to the Latino to see. "I tried… How to sugarcoat this? I tried to kill myself."

Leo's breath hitched. How could a boy that kind, that amazing, do all that to himself? He gently took the

"Well, its not exactly all… My stepfather also hits me. It hurts but the people here don't know that," Percy added absentmindedly, using his right hand to trace some of the scars on his left hand.

Leo freaked out.

Burning and Drowning|07

When Leo freaked out, it would never be pretty.

So basically, his hair caught fire.

Surprisingly, Percy didn't freak out, he just looked at the fire in awe.

"You can…" The words seemed to get stuck in Percy's throat. "You can manipulate some of the elements too?!"

If the shock didn't put out Leo's flames, Percy's water definitely did.

"Really?" Leo asked in excitement, shaking off the water. "You can manipulate water? I can manipulate fire."

Percy nodded eagerly, then hesitated. "Leo…? Do we tell anyone?"

The innocent question caught Leo. He forced out a choked, stuttered reply. "No-o…"

"Why?" Percy asked, gaze burning into Leo. "Does the fire have something to do with… your mom's death?"

Leo freaked out even more.

The flames were licking at the shop the screams coming from him didn't cease the flames devoured the workshop nothing was left but a pile of ashes nothing nothing nothing all alone all-

"-eo! Leo!" Percy was whispering, stroking the Latino's curls. "It's alright, you're not there, you're fine, you're out, you're safe, and that's all that matters right now."

Leo whimpered and sat up from when he had curled into a ball during his flashback.

"Sorry about that," Leo whispered.

"It's alright and it's not your fault so don't apologise," Percy grinned wearily. "Besides, chances are you'll have to do it for me too."

Burning and Drowning|08

Surprisingly, the rehabilitation center was nice, and most of the people there were. Leo and Percy grew closer over the time they spent together, to the point they were almost brothers. They had friends too, like a Piper-no-surname who pretty much longed for her famous dad's attention, a Travis and Connor Stoll who were apparently there for stealing stuff and a Clarisse la Rue who the Stolls had stollen from.

Basically, Travis and Connor stole something from Clarisse that resulted in them getting into a fight and sent here. In reality, the were actually kinda decent friends, the three of them. They just got caught at a bad moment in their relationship.

Piper was far from quiet, expressing her thoughts and opinions loudly at times. Travis and Connor were something like what Leo and Percy had become, to the point of which they finished each other's sentences and almost couldn't imagine a world without each other. Clarisse was violently protective of their little group of six. They enjoyed it like that for a month.

Then Piper finished her time in rehabilitation and left. Not two weeks after that, Travis, Connor and Clarisse all left together. Leo and Percy were left alone with each other.

Without their group of support, the two boy's mental condition slowly deteriorated, not that anyone but the other knew. They talked to each other about their dreams, Leo with an entire plan of a giant flying ship and Percy with clinging to a ledge of a dangerous cliff above a hole with a giant flying ship in the background and other muddled faces.

Times got worse. Leo gained himself a joker's facade and Percy gained himself a sassy, sarcastic facade. Still no one noticed.

Burning and Drowning|09

Leo left first, after a grand total of three months in the place, and not without a promise to contact the older boy whenever he could. Percy could only hope that Leo would keep his promise.

Leo found himself in the foster care system again, changing from foster family to foster family. Some were abusive, some were neglectful and some were just… neutral. But Leo left all of them, or got brought out of them. He scared the neutral families, or sometimes he just ran away so the monsters that chased him wouldn't attack those families. No family was as bad as Miss Teresa, and Leo didn't forget the boy with ocean eyes.

A grand total of a year after escaping the rehabilitation center, Leo found his way outside an apartment. The address just rang alarm bells in his head.

The place was kind of dingy and neglected, but then again, he was told what to expect. Again, he didn't expect it to be that bad.

East One-hundred-and-fourth and First.

He found himself outside the unit he had grown to learn was Percy Jackson's, and knocked.

Burning and Drowning|10

"Percy, honey! Could you please get the door?" Sally Jackson-Percy Jackson's mother- called as the doorbell rang.

Percy didn't reply-he hadn't spoken since he returned from the rehabilitation center half a year ago-and went to answer the door.

Broken-looking dark brown eyes met his sea green ones, and the owner of the former grinned.

"Missed me, Jackson?" Leo Valdez grinned at him.

"Come in!" Percy smiled, dragging the Latino in. "MOM!"

Sally Jackson rushed out, shocked that her boy had spoken to her willingly for the first time in a year (half a year in the rehab center and another half a year at home).

"Honey!" Sally gasped as she embraced Percy. Percy looked over her shoulder and mouthed at Leo. 'I'll explain later.'

"Mom. Meet Leonidas Valdez, a friend from the rehab center," Percy introduced. "Leonidas, meet my mom."

"Leonidas? Friend?" Leo asked, putting a hand to his heart, mock offended. "I am offended, Jackson. I thought I introduced myself to you as Leo, and I thought we had a bond more than friends!"

Percy laughed. "Well, I can't call you a twin or a brother with my mom around."

"Come on Leo!" Sally smiled warmly at Leo. "I just baked cookies."

"Are they blue?" Percy interrupted eagerly.

Sally turned, loving and caring eyes trained on the two demigods (though they didn't know yet). Her son, the one who spoke for the first time in so long, and his friend, who looked starved, sleep-deprived and kinda ruffled.

"Of course."

Burning and Drowning|11

Leo explained his situation to Percy and Sally, as she had demanded for her to call him after he called her "Ms Jackson" so many times. Sally had cooed and started fussing over Leo. Then, Sally had insisted on adopting the younger boy, much to both boys' delight.

Later that night, as Leo lay on the bed (Percy's insistence) and Percy on the floor, the older boy explained that he hadn't spoken at all since coming out of the rehabilitation center. Leo chided Percy softly for it, Percy had a flashback, Leo comforted him… And the cycle continued.

They lived like this, Percy and Leo as adopted brothers and Gabe threatening to ruin both their lives (though Percy took care of Leo's share of beatings like the protective older brother he was), until August 2005 (roughly another year later).

Of course, it was never that bad until then.

Percy had been strapped down to a mattress by Gabe. No amount of struggling or writhing would do anything about it. He was trapped, and thoroughly so. Gabe, not for the first time, was truly and thoroughly drunk.

He dreaded to think what Gabe would do to him that time. The first time he had been strapped down like this, the ocean eyed boy had been whipped thoroughly and then… Gabe did less pleasant things to the boy. He felt so dirty, so stained, that he didn't come out of the shower for two hours.

He didn't tell Leo, but he had the strangest feeling that Leo knew what had happened.

Burning and Drowning|12

Oh Percy was right, Leo knew what had happened, and oh no, he wasn't a happy camper.

That… monster… had broken Percy once, possibly way more than just that once, and in no way was Leo going to let Gabe lay a hand on Percy again, even if it meant running away from another home and leaving the only group he had ever considered another family behind.

He was willing to sacrifice it all.

Leo kicked open the door and found Gabe towering over a completely nude Percy, the latter's eyes squeezed shut. A pang hit Leo's heart. It was like his real mother all over again… He shook the thoughts away, shouldering his backpack again.

"Get off of him," Leo growled lowly.

Gabe turned, and trained his eyes on the little mechanic. Percy opened his eyes, and realising what his brother was going to do, shook his head frantically. Leo smiled sadly.

"Get away," Leo threatened. "Or you'll lose your life."

With that, Leo's hands ignited on fire.

Gabe freaked out and instantly left the room, leaving Leo with Percy. Leo gently burned away the ropes tying the older boy down and extinguished the fire and eased Percy up.

"But Leo…" Percy sighed, fidgeting with his fingers. "Please. Stay?"

Leo smiled sadly at his brother, then whispered, "I'm sorry."

He left, and they wouldn't meet for another five years.

Burning and Drowning|13

Needless to say, Percy didn't fair well after Leo's unexpected disappearance. He shut himself up, and refused to speak. He didn't speak until he and Grover became close friends, but even Grover never knew about the extent of which he cut himself, or burnt himself. He burnt himself more than he cut, since fire reminded him of Leo and what he couldn't save.

Percy continued to call himself Percy, tribute to Leo, and Leo continued to run, always staying out of side, somehow miraculously.

Occasionally, the Jackson or, later, Jackson-Blofis household would gain wind of news of Leo somewhere in the country, like in Canada or California or somewhere like that. Hope never lasted in situations like this and the sightings of Leo were gone soon enough.

Percy noted that Leo could be a demigod, one of Hephaestus, probably. Fixing things? Check. Crazy fire powers? Check.

Four and a half years passed.

Leo went to Wilderness School. He met Piper McLean, a girl that reminded him strongly of the Piper he met at rehabilitation. But it wasn't possible. Was it?

Another half a year passed.

Percy never gave up his self-harming ways, intending to remember the pain for eternity.

Leo stopped running, for a little, hanging on to a little hope in his heart that maybe he could find his long lost brother on his quest.

A total of five years passed since that incident, and on the Argo II, they met again.

Word Count: 3073 words (Somewhere around there)

(A/N: Huh. What am I doing? Two one-shots in a day... I hope it is understood that this ties off to Percy and Leo's past in Facades... Ha.

Peace out,
Summer)